An astonishing number of lightweight athletes competed, -60 kg being the most dense category of the event with 66 judoka, while -48 kg and -52 kg had 36 and 37 respectively, the most well entered groups for the women’s events. The competition included athletes who have been seen recently on the World Judo Tour.
As part of the development and performance strategies of the Judo Federation of India, the event was used to inform selections for the senior national team for the 2034-2025 season and also to create a long list towards making final selections for the forthcoming Asian Championships, due to take place from 20th to 23rd April in Hong Kong.
The gentle rise of India has already been noted, firstly in 2022 at the World Cadet Championships in Sarajevo: https://www.ijf.org/news/show/india-making-history
Then in Tashkent this year: https://www.ijf.org/news/show/the-calm-progression-of-india
Swaita (-48 kg), Tokas (-63 kg) and Yadav all fought in Delhi while Tulika Maan (+78) was absent but already has her place for the continental meet. She will also compete at the summer Games in Paris, via continental quota.
India is making remarkable progress and the numbers seen at the national championships last week illustrate that.